Happy New Year!

As the year draws to a close I want to express my gratitude to all those who have been so supportive of my ministry in Haiti this year and to each of you who take time to read this.  Thank you!  

May  your New Year be filled with love, peace, joy and many blessings!  

Tomorrow is Haitian Independence Day.  Although I am in Florida at the moment, I intend to make a traditional Pot of Soup Joumou tomorrow.  Pumpkin soup is the food eaten in Haiti to celebrate Independence Day, and one of my favorite foods.    I will share it with my parents (dad probably won't eat it)  and cousins visiting from Ireland.  

I will write a better update soon.  

Happy New Year!  

Jwaye Nwèl! Merry Christmas!

Christmas greetings from Rhode Island.

This Christmas I found myself reflecting upon the mystery of the Incarnation, the idea that God would chose to become human and enter the world as a dependent little baby, born into humble conditions.  As a human being, Jesus experienced all the human emotions and sensations, the joys as well as the suffering that are simply part of the human condition.  What a mystery to celebrate! 

  

Since my last update I have traveled a bit.  First I visited sisters in my congregation in New Orleans and now visiting my family in Rhode Island.  It is wonderful to be able to connect with so many people, in person.  I am grateful for the people in my life and that this year I am able  celebrate this feast with family. There have been good times, important conversations, tasty food, and pleasant surprises.  

Although I was not really dreaming of it, we actually had a white Christmas!  While I was at church with my parents this morning, it started to snow.    It was not enough snow to create problems with travel plans, just enough to be pretty.  It started to melt soon after the short storm passed.  I snapped a few pictures to share.    (I had every intention of uploading a few of those pictures and wasted a lot of time attempting to do so, but despite seemingly flawless wifi, and constant reliable electricity, I am having technical difficulties uploading the pictures from my camera.)  What a contrast from the climate I was in last week at this time! 

The hardest part of being here in the US at Christmas, especially as I am aware that last year at this time I was in Burkina Faso, is the amount of stuff!  Today I was at first quite happy to see very young relatives opening gifts,  because the children seemed to be enjoying themselves so much.  Some of the toys they received are pretty cool and the clothing was adorable. The gifts kept coming and coming.  After a while I felt a bit of ambivalence as I thought of the children at the orphanage and those in Haiti and elsewhere in the world who are even less fortunate than them. For Christmas last week, at the orphanage each child was given a gift, typically an article of clothing and maybe a simple toy like a jump rope.  Generally the children at the orphanage were quite happy with their simple gifts.   In reality most of the children at the orphanage probably received more than many of their  young neighbors and relatives who do not reside at the orphanage. According to a statistic that I heard very recently, "3.1% of the world's children live in America, but they own 40% of the toys consumed globally (UCLA.)"    

It is a beautiful concept that in honor of the gift of Jesus, we exchange gifts with those we love.  Yet, I am uncomfortable when I look at the great surplus of goods that some of us have (myself included) and the lack of basic necessities experienced by so many of our brothers and sisters in the world.   I wonder, how Jesus would react to the way that many of us in mainstream US culture (myself included) now celebrate the incarnation?  My challenge to myself, in celebration of God taking on human form, is to do my best, to embody the  attributes of God.  I desire to en-flesh in concrete ways, God's love, hope, peace, justice, inclusivity, truth, humility, and mercy.  Without a doubt I will fall short thousands of times each day, but I intend to try.  Let us all try; that may be what the world is truly hungering for.


I wish each of you Love, Peace and Joy and all of the graces of this Christmas season.  Many blessings!  

     

A little information about a few of my many varied activities this week

This week was filled with a variety of events, activities, challenges, and gifts.

Most of the schools had exams this week.  At the High School and one primary school, I was asked to help with surveillance during exams.  Students have formal exams at the end of every trimester here.  At the high school, there are many protocols in place that seem to be designed to prevent the students from cheating.  It was interesting because it was a new experience although in some ways watching students take exams was a bit boring in actuality. 


One morning, after surveying exams at the high school, I went to visit the Sisters of Wisdom.  In early November I had attended a conference for religious in Cap-Haitian.  At the conference, a few congregations shared about their ministry.  There was a Haitian Sister of Wisdom who spoke about what her congregation is doing in the field of healthcare.  Although she was speaking French I thought I heard her say that the ministry where she works was started by the Marianites.  She did not know that there was a Marianite present when she said that.  During the meal that day I sat with her and she talked about her ministry and was happy to know that I am a Marianite and that my congregation had started the mission that her congregation continues.  She invited me to visit.  This week, I got a tour of the clinic, dispensary, and laboratory.   I saw the school and chatted with some of the school children during their break; I did not get a full tour because the children had exams that day.  The school is now a national school which means it receives funding from the government.  They are serving many children who are living in poverty who would not be able to otherwise attend school.  There were several employees who worked there when some of the Marianites were there. They seemed happy to meet me and asked about some of the Marianites in France who they very fondly remember. It was good to see that something that was started by my congregation continues and is being run well by Haitian Sisters long after the Marianites who actually started it have left Haiti.  I was also glad to see that both the school and clinic serve people who are truly in great need. The visit provided me a with a bit of hope in the form of concrete evidence that when a congregation is no longer somewhere (or perhaps is no longer in existence at all) it does not always mean that the mission or specific ministries necassarilly end. 

Orphanage Chapel this morning

The children at the orphanage did not have school this week.  I spent a little more time there than I have in recent weeks.  I allowed the younger children to come to the playroom in small groups to play and did a creative activity with some of the older children. Today, was the orphanage Christmas party.  We had a liturgy in the chapel this morning to celebrate the third Sunday of Advent.  The party that followed was a joyful celebration with delicious food and gifts for the children. Tomorrow the children leave to visit their families for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

I will leave for visits and vacation the following day.

May you experience many blessings and joy during this third week of Advent. 

The Holy Spirit and the Grieving Process

Although not what I would consider typical first week of Advent themes, I found myself reflecting on the Holy Spirit and on the grieving process recently. 

One mystery of the Holy Spirit is that members of a group, such as a community, can be sincerely fully convinced that they are following the lead of the Holy Spirit and yet have completely opposite conclusions as to what the Holy Spirit is communally inviting them to at a particular time.

Sometimes the path to acceptance of a situation requires muddling teary eyed through the murky waters of grief.  Somehow trusting the Holy Spirit, (even after She seemed to whisper something different to the decision makers than to you) might help, too.   

If the first week of Advent felt more like a long drawn out Good Friday, then maybe Christmas will also feel like Easter? Anything is possible, after all, the Spirit works in mysterious ways.   

Thank you for taking the time to read this. 
Many blessings!  Take care.

Reflections on violence and peace as we enter Advent

Two months ago the leadership teams of all of the congregations of Holy Cross signed a statement on non-violence and just-peace .

Several weeks ago, I was asked to do an hour-long presentation on violence that was supposed to take place one evening this past week.  Although I prepared for it, the meeting did not happen.  Yet my preparation may have been worthwhile as the concepts found their way into my thoughts, perceptions, and prayers recently.

It is so easy to see examples of various forms of violence being played out when I read the world news online or hear the stories of people I encounter.  It seems that there are too many examples of people intentionally harming others.  When the definition of violence is broadened to including structural violence then creating, maintaining or changing laws with the intent of denying people access to basic needs is violent.  Making it more difficult for working and middle-class people to obtain their right to health care is violent. Denying a refugee who is fleeing a dangerous situation a welcome is violent.  Sending the immigrant home when there are no jobs and their basic needs will not likely be met in their home country is violent.  When we consider the concept of cultural violence then treating one language (and therefore those who master it) as better than another language especially if those who don't speak it are excluded is violent. Political leaders "retweeting" videos that inaccurately portray people of a specific religion in a negative way is violent.  There is so much violence in the world;  it is tempting to despair.     

 If the liturgical season of Advent, which begins today, is to be about preparing to welcome the Prine of Peace then it is truly a time of hope.  Let us recognize the violence that surrounds us as well as the violence inside our own hearts that needs to be healed.  Let us be transformed that we may become the hope that our world needs.  Let each of us, in the places we find ourselves, give birth to the peace and justice that our world is hungering and waiting for during this time in the history of our world and during this liturgical season of Advent.

Let us pray for one another.  Advent blessings!

This poinsettia plant in our yard appears to be preparing for the Feast of Christmas.